Why Location-Based Augmented Reality Still Hasn't Taken Off

Was Pokémon Go a rare success story?

After Niantic released Pokémon Go to worldwide fanfare, everyone waited for the flood of similar location-based games and products—but it never came. Ryan Chapman, co-founder and CEO of location-based augmented reality (AR) platform Motive.io, spoke with eMarketer's Yory Wurmser about the state of augmented reality in the aftermath of Pokémon Go's success, the most popular use cases for brands and what's next. Chapman was interviewed as part of eMarketer's July report, "Maps and Navigation Apps: Discovery, Exploration Features Open Up Ad Opportunities."

eMarketer:

Why is it that nobody else has been able to do what Niantic did with Pokémon Go?

Ryan Chapman:

It’s really hard to do. A lot of people chalk up Pokémon Go's success to the fact that it's tied to such an enormous IP. There's definitely some truth to that, but Niantic also had five years of experience building location-based products before they launched Pokémon Go. That gives you an idea of how much effort goes into understanding and creating anything location-based.

Interview conducted on January 19, 2018

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